A Dented Toyota

The other day while pulling into a parking lot, I noticed the car beside me had a large dent in the rear fender. What drew my attention to it was the self-adhesive letters in the dent spelling out the words wabi-sabi. I laughed all the way to the coffee shop. I appreciated the dry humor of the car's owner as my recent artwork is based on these two little words. 

Wabi-sabi is an ancient Japanese aesthetic. The conjunction does not translate easily. Wabi basically means a humble simplicity of thought or action. Sabi refers to the beauty and serenity that comes from a life of usefulness. In brief, a transcendence of the ordinary. The concept is derived from Zen, a branch of Buddhism. All that is authentic must encompass three realities; nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect. This philosophy is illustrated in commonplace objects either of natural or human construction. It may be quirks and anomalies found in nature or signs of age and wear in man-made utensils. It's the service rendered that is revered. The object is merely the shrine.  

I take an extreme approach to wabi-sabi. In creating my personal interpretation, I select only discarded material that has outlived its usefulness. A well-worn rag that shreds to the touch. A pail that has rusted into many pieces. I attempt to capture the item's intangible essence by creating a shrine through composition. If I succeed, the item takes on a different form altogether. Given a new perceptive it reveals the significance found hidden within its deceptive appearance.

So after days of questioning my artistic direction, I'm presented with validation by a dented Toyota!  I'm not sure where I'm headed but I must be going the right way.